Insights

Sourcing Stock Video: The 6 Best Websites

As anyone who’s been reading our recent blog posts will know, we believe that web video is the future of digital marketing. With the demand for video content increasing every year, web designers and developers alike are now acknowledging the undeniable benefits of integrating video content into their digital marketing campaigns. And yet, while creating original video content remains one of the most effective and beneficial approaches for capitalising on this trend, not everyone will have the time or resources required to create relevant content from scratch. This is where high-quality stock footage comes in.

In this week’s blog post, we’re going to look at the different options available for sourcing stock video footage. Take a look.

Shutterstock

By far one of the most popular websites for stock photos and images, Shutterstock is also an extremely popular resource for those seeking stock video footage. It’s well designed and easy to use – which isn’t always the case with stock footage sites – and has an extremely extensive selection of footage to choose from. According to Shutterstock itself, they have over 1 million clips to choose from. Enough said, really.

Price:

Although it’s still reasonably priced, there are cheaper options out there. The average HD video clip – if purchasing a single one-off clip – will set you back around 40 euros or so. Alternatively, you can purchase 5 HD clips for 269 euros; 10 HD clips for 499 euros; and 25 HD clips for 1,199 euros.

Adobe Stock

Another resource that’s been growing in popularity recently is Adobe Stock. Originally called Fotolia, it offers a vast library of high-quality footage. Again, the layout is easy to navigate and user-friendly – and the payment system is intuitive and appealing for visitors. It also offers video creators a fair share of the sale price, at 35 percent, which is always something worth supporting.

Price:

For 3 assets a month, it’s €17.99. For 10 assets, it’s €19.99, for 40 it’s €47.99, and for 750 it’s €119 per month. What’s great is that they offer a month-long free trial, offering 10 free images for download.

Videoblocks

Unlike other stock video services, which generally sell video files on a file-by-file basis, Videoblocks takes a different approach. It operates on a subscription basis, whereby subscribers can download and use as many clips as they want from their archive of 115,000 clips. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in their unlimited library, there’s also the option of buying single files from their Members-Only Marketplace. For those who need a large amount of footage, on a regular basis, Videoblocks is a great option. Also, there’s a seven-day free trial available for those who want to test it out.

Price:

For one month of unlimited downloads, as well as access to the Videoblocks marketplace, it costs 99 USD. For a year’s subscription, it’s 149 USD. Then there’s also the premium plan, at 298 USD, which provides a full year of downloads – as well as a variety of other features and benefits, such as allowing access for 5 individual users and access to premium 4k content.

VideoHive

VideoHive falls under the umbrella of the Envato network, which includes services offering all kinds of materials, from motion graphics assets, to website themes, to stock photos. At an average price of 7-10 euros per HD clip, VideoHive is one of the most affordable stock footage options out there. However, the cheaper price point does have an impact on the amount of clips available and the quality of those clips. So, in many ways, some of the more expensive options might have advantages that this cheaper alternative doesn’t.

Price:

The average video clips costs about 7-10 euros, for a single use of the image. To use the image as many times as you like, for different projects, it goes up to 30 euros or so. For most of you purchasing stock footage for your web videos, a single use license will be more than enough.

iStock by Getty Images

Although a little on the pricey side, the quality of video footage from iStock is very impressive. Originally called the BBC Motion Gallery before merging with iStock, this resource specialised in collecting content from the BBC, CBS, ABC (Australia) and a variety of other broadcasters. They now also have high quality footage from a variety of independent video producers. The advantage of iStock is that you can often find quirky or unusual clips that you may not be able to find via the other stock footage sites.

Price:

iStock’s pricing plan is definitely on the expensive side. An clip can set you back, on average, about 125 euros. For this reason, it’s probably best reserved for those high-quality speciality clips you can’t source anywhere else.

Pond5

Easy and enjoyable to navigate, with a handy automatic preview that activates when you hover over a video, Pond5 is a favourite among video creators. With over 2.1 million HD clips available, it’s got enough material to suit most needs and the quality is exceptional. One of the biggest selling points, however, is that it remains reasonably priced without sacrificing on quality.

Price:

For non-members, you can expect to pay about 25 USD per clip. If you sign up for a monthly membership, at 99 USD a month, you receive 10 downloads a month. To sign up for the yearly membership, with the same amount of downloads, it will cost you 299 USD.